When shipping products or packages (hereafter packages) which have little strength, it is necessary to protect the packages with a suitably strong shipping/storage case. Typically, it is desired to use corrugated board for such cases, which is a relatively cheap material and lends itself to automation. However, it may also be desirable to display the package in the case (for ready identification by the user) and to afford easy access to the packages. Various cases have been disclosed in the art for this purpose.
For example, KOOL-AID BURSTS.RTM. (comprising a fruit-flavored beverage in a plastic bottle with a flexible neck and twist-off top) have been shipped in a shrink-wrapped display case comprising top and bottom cardboard trays about a 4.times.2 array of six-packs of the KOOL-AID BURSTS.RTM.. A supporting divider is also provided between the array to vertically support the display case as the KOOL-AID BURSTS.RTM. bottles themselves have little vertical strength (as the twist-off tops and necks are flexible and readily subject to damage by impact). However, the provision of such display cases is not readily automatable and hence is labor intensive.